Kishi Chikudō Boxed Notecards

During his lifetime, Kishi Chikudō (1826–1897) was regarded as one of the three greatest painters in Kyoto, Japan. He was schooled under master painters, including Kishi Renzan, who made him his heir. Chikudō then became the head of the Kishi school. Chikudō and his school enjoyed a position of prestige after receiving a commission to take part in the decoration of the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

Chikudō excelled at tiger paintings, a hallmark of the Kishi school. Chikudō reportedly studied tigers in street stalls and traveling circuses. His Tigress was exhibited at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. It is said that he worked so intensely on this masterpiece that he believed, at least temporarily, that he himself was a tiger.

Following the practice of shasei (sketching from life), Chikudō painted other animals, cherry blossoms, birds, flowers, and moonlit scenes. He employed the tsuketate technique, in which a soft, finely tapered wet brush is applied directly to silk with a flourish to create shading and three-dimensionality.

Contains 5 each of four flower images from Flower Album Leaf from a Set of 50, published in the late 19th century.